Notes

Ceiling, baffle, wall, or a desk screen

The order of treatment is not taste. The largest reflecting surface near the source is treated first.

A screen between two desks will not shorten the echo of a twenty-metre hall.

The ceiling is usually the largest hard surface not already covered by furniture. Clouds — board, skin, cover — replace part of its reflection with absorption. Cover half the area with a high class and you have changed the room. Hang three panels over one table in a glazed hall and you have decorated the table.

Baffles are chosen when the soffit has to stay open. Both faces work, and the rows are set with the direction of seating, not against it. glowline adds a line of light for projects that refuse a second, dark ceiling.

Walls treat what remains at the ear: glass reflection, and the stone behind a speaker. skin when the face should be continuous, frame when the edge should be readable. A freestanding partition breaks the direct path between two groups. The desk screen is the last layer, local, and should not be written into the schedule as if it were the hall’s treatment.